County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Diabetic Eye Screener / Grader

This job is now closed

Job summary

To work as a member of the Diabetes Eye Screening Programme across County Durham and Darlington, delivering screening to clients aged 12 and over in various locations capturing digital images and providing disease/no disease grading of digital retinal images. Providing a high quality systematic grading and screening service as part of the National Diabetic Eye Screening Programme ensuring early detection of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy and associated conditions whilst supporting the activities of the department ensuring that National Quality Standards are maintained.

Proficient in the use of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machinery and capture of good quality images.

Main duties of the job

Responsible for installing equipment and setting up allocated room(s) as required in accordance with proper and safe use, identified protocols and the operational procedures of both the service and designated screening location.

Competence to obtain a brief clinical history and measure and record visual acuities. To safely administer eye drops within the departments standard operating procedures.

Gain the competence to grade unsupervised, sustaining high levels of concentration over extended periods, to analyse and interpret diabetic retinopathy, accurately diagnosing small details of diabetic disease and other ocular lesions ensuring timely referrals when appropriate.

Proven competence to work autonomously and effectively without access to supervision, in various locations, requiring the ability to plan travel time appropriately and to plan and organise own clinic time, screening on average 23 patients per day under current workflows..

About us

We are one of the largest integrated care providers in England. Over 7,000 Staff serve a population of around 650,000 people in the North East,

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

At County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust our aim is to always deliver excellent care with compassion to deliver the highest quality of care our patients deserve. We value the personal skills, experiences and qualities that individuals bring to the Trust; creating an inclusive working environment to attract talented people who feel motivated, involved and able to influence the future direction of our services. The wellbeing of staff is important to us; we have a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team who provide support on a range of topics.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents

Date posted

15 July 2022

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£22,549 to £24,882 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9439-22-4249

Job locations

Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust

Hollyhurst Road

Darlington

County Durham

DL3 6HX

Job description

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Competence to obtain a brief clinical history and measure and record visual acuities.

Grading a minimum of 1000 patients’ image sets per annum.

Responsibility for maintaining internal quality assurance processes for grading during primary diagnosis of disease/no disease.

Ensuring timely image grading and automatic generation of results/referral letters as appropriate.

Communicate effectively with health professionals and frequently with patients, who may be in distressing and sensitive circumstance, using empathy and reassurance in the management of information regarding diabetes management, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic eye disease and possible loss of sight.

Maintaining a good throughput of patients in the event that workflow practices change.

Capacity to work accurately whilst maintaining intense periods of concentration and completing clinics on time.

To be accountable and make clinical decisions involving patients within local guidelines, without direct supervision from senior staff.

Competence of accurate image and data handling, including image capture and retrieval if required.

To safely administer eye drops within the departments standard operating procedures.

Competence to deliver effective one-to-one patient education, using their retinal images as a teaching tool, in a motivating and persuasive manner so as to encourage effective diabetes management and reduction in the risks of diabetic eye damage whilst encouraging annual screening attendance.

Carry out proficiently and safely the frequent movement of a digital fundus camera (approx. 27kgs), on specially designed trolleys, often within confined spaces, being aware of and acting in accordance with Trust manual handling protocols.

Adhere to all Trust policies and procedures and maintain accurate patient records.

Attend departmental meetings essential to the development of the service with input/action and implementation responsibility.

Responsible for monitoring clinical and consumable stock levels on a daily basis and placing orders when required.

Proactively seek and maintain up to date information and training to ensure that skills are sustained to a high standard.